Embattled White House physician Ronny Jackson said Thursday that he is "regretfully withdrawing" his name to be veterans affairs secretary, saying that while he had expected tough questions about the Department of Veterans Affairs, "I did not expect to have to dignify baseless and anonymous attacks on my character and integrity." He called the allegations against him "completely false and fabricated." The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee had indefinitely suspended confirmation hearings this week as lawmakers received allegations from current and former colleagues that Jackson had crashed a government vehicle while drunk, drank on the job, and handed out prescription drugs "like candy." Ivanka Trump, a senior adviser to the president, signaled Thursday that Jackson would stay on as White House physician.

On Monday morning, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) announced that she's running for president in 2020, joining fellow Senate Democrats Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) in a crowded early field for the Democratic nomination. Harris, 54, made her announcement in a video posted online and also on ABC's Good Morning America. She will more formally kick off her campaign in Oakland, California, next Sunday. Elected to the Senate in 2016, Harris was California's attorney general and before that, a district attorney. Harris — the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica (father) and India (mother) — would be the first woman, first Asian-American, and first black woman to be elected president.

President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) traded barbs on Sunday after Democrats rejected Trump's proposal to end the government shutdown. Trump offered to temporarily extend protections against deportation for some young undocumented immigrants and people fleeing disasters in exchange for the $5.7 billion he is demanding for his border wall. Democrats said the three years of protections Trump was offering fell short. Trump tweeted that Pelosi "is so petrified of the 'lefties' in her party that she has lost control." Pelosi tweeted back, calling on Trump to "re-open the government, let workers get their paychecks, and then we can discuss how we can come together to protect the border." Some conservatives also criticized Trump's proposal, saying it amounted to amnesty for illegal immigrants.

President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen pursued the possibility of a Trump Tower project in Moscow as late as October or November of 2016, Trump's current personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday. Cohen initially told Congress he abandoned the project in January of 2016, as the Republican primary elections began. He later admitted this was a lie and said talks related to the project continued through June of 2016, around the time Trump clinched the GOP nomination. "Well, it's our understanding [conversations about the project] went on throughout 2016. Weren't a lot of them, but there were conversations," Giuliani told host Chuck Todd. "Can't be sure of the exact date. But the president can remember having conversations with [Cohen] about it ... as far as October, November. Our answers cover until the election."

On Sunday night and early Monday, North and South America were able to witness the only total lunar eclipse until 2021, and it had the added bonus of being a so-called supermoon, where the moon appears bigger and brighter than normal due to the Earth's position. The eclipse was also called a blood moon because of its reddish color and a wolf moon, the Native American term for the first full moon in January. The show, which lasted three hours — totality was about one hour — was visible throughout North and South America and parts of Europe, weather permitting.

The New England Patriots beat the Kansas City Chiefs in a 37-31 overtime stunner on Sunday to win the AFC championship and send them back to their third straight Super Bowl appearance, and the ninth for the combination of quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick. Their Super Bowl LIII rivals will be the Los Angeles Rams, who beat the New Orleans Saints 26-23, also in overtime. This will be the Rams' first Super Bowl appearance since 2002, when they were still based in St. Louis. The Patriots will be the third franchise to play in three consecutive Super Bowls, and Brady, at 41, was already the oldest quarterback to play in the NFL's championship game. Rams quarterback Jared Goff is 24.